A number of procedures are presently available for the detection of specific nucleic acid molecules. These procedures typically depend on sequence-dependent hybridisation between the target nucleic acid and nucleic acid probes which may range in length from short oligonucleotides (20 bases or less) to sequences of many kilobases (kb).
The most widely used method for amplification of specific sequences from within a population of nucleic acid sequences is that of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Dieffenbach C and Dveksler G eds. PCR Primer: A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Plainview N.Y.). In this amplification method, oligonucleotides, generally 15 to 30 nucleotides in length on complementary strands and at either end of the region to be amplified, are used to prime DNA synthesis on denatured single-stranded DNA. Successive cycles of denaturation, primer hybridisation and DNA strand synthesis using thermostable DNA polymerases allows exponential amplification of the sequences between the primers. RNA sequences can be amplified by first copying using reverse transcriptase to produce a cDNA copy. Amplified DNA fragments can be detected by a variety of means including gel electrophoresis, hybridisation with labelled probes, use of tagged primers that allow subsequent identification (eg. by an enzyme linked assay), use of fluorescently-tagged primers that give rise to a signal upon hybridisation with the target DNA (eg. Beacon and TaqMan systems).
As well as PCR, a variety of other techniques have been developed for detection and amplification of specific sequences. One example is the ligase chain reaction (Barany F Genetic disease detection and DNA amplification using cloned thermostable ligase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:189-193 (1991)).
For direct detection, the target nucleic acid is most commonly separated on the basis of size by gel electrophoresis and transferred to a solid support prior to hybridisation with a probe complementary to the target sequence (Southern and Northern blotting). The probe may be a natural nucleic acid or analogue such as peptide nucleic acid (PNA) or locked nucleic acid (LNA). The probe may be directly labelled (eg. with 32P) or an indirect detection procedure may be used. Indirect procedures usually rely on incorporation into the probe of a “tag” such as biotin or digoxigenin and the probe is then detected by means such as enzyme-linked substrate conversion or chemiluminescence.
Another method for direct detection of nucleic acid that has been used widely is “sandwich” hybridisation. In this method, a capture probe is coupled to a solid support and the target nucleic acid, in solution, is hybridised with the bound probe. Unbound target nucleic acid is washed away and the bound nucleic acid is detected using a second probe that hybridises to the target sequences. Detection may use direct or indirect methods as outlined above. The “branched DNA” signal detection system is an example that uses the sandwich hybridization principle (Urdea M S et al. Branched DNA amplification multimers for the sensitive, direct detection of human hepatitis viruses. Nucleic Acids Symp Ser. 1991; (24): 197-200).
A rapidly growing area that uses nucleic acid hybridisation for direct detection of nucleic acid sequences is that of DNA micro-arrays (Young R A Biomedical discovery with DNA arrays. Cell 102: 9-15 (2000); Watson A New tools. A new breed of high tech detectives. Science 289:850-854 (2000)). In this process, individual nucleic acid species, that may range from oligonucleotides to longer sequences such as cDNA clones, are fixed to a solid support in a grid pattern. A tagged or labelled nucleic acid population is then hybridised with the array and the level of hybridisation with each spot in the array quantified. Most commonly, radioactively- or fluorescently-labelled nucleic acids (eg. cDNAs) were used for hybridisation, though other detection systems were employed.
One problem associated with the use of micro-arrays for genomic typing analysis is that before individual sites can be analysed they usually have to be pre-amplified in some way. Most methods rely on PCR amplification of the target sequence. However, when the number of primer sets in the reaction mix is n target sequences, any 2n2+n possible pairwise combination of probes may give rise to non-specific amplification products (Landegren and Nilsson. Locked on target: strategies for future gene diagnostics. Ann. Med. 1997; (29): 585-590). To address this technique, padlock probes have been developed. With these probes, non-specific reactions create linearised molecules whereas specific hybridization events lead to dimeric molecules which can be distinguished from the linearised molecules by the use of exonucleases (Nilsson et al. Padlock probes: circularised oligonucleotides for local DNA detection. 1994; Science 92650; 2085-2088). However, for the specific detection of genomic variations typically four probes would be used for the detection of each individual polymorphic site leading to a very large number of probes to be generated for whole genome scanning.
Another recent technique, molecular inversion probes (MIP) has been demonstrated to produce a high level of multiplexing in a single tube. It has been reported that more that 1000 probes can be multiplexed in a single tube (Hardenbol et al Nature Biotechnology, 21: 673-678). However, both the padlock probe and MIP method require the synthesis of very long oligonucleotides >110 bp which cannot be achieved with most commercial distributors.
Currently, the method of choice to detect methylation changes in DNA, such as were found in the GSTP1 gene promoter in prostate cancer, are dependent on PCR amplification of such sequences after bisulphite modification of DNA. In bisulphite-treated DNA, cytosines are converted to uracils (and hence amplified as thymines during PCR) while methylated cytosines are non-reactive and remain as cytosines (Frommer M, McDonald L E, Millar D S, Collis C M, Watt F, Grigg G W, Molloy P L and Paul C L. A genomic sequencing protocol which yields a positive display of 5-methyl cytosine residues in individual DNA strands. PNAS 89: 1827-1831 (1992); Clark S J, Harrison J, Paul C L and Frommer M. High sensitivity mapping of methylated cytosines. Nucleic Acids Res. 22: 2990-2997 (1994)). Thus, after bisulphite treatment, DNA containing 5-methyl cytosine bases will be different in sequence from the corresponding unmethylated DNA. Primers may be chosen to amplify non-selectively a region of the genome of interest to determine its methylation status, or may be designed to selectively amplify sequences in which particular cytosines were methylated (Herman J G, Graff J R, Myohanen S, Nelkin B D and Baylin S B. Methylation-specific PCR: a novel PCR assay for methylation status of CpG islands. PNAS 93:9821-9826 (1996)).
Alternative methods for detection of cytosine methylation include digestion with restriction enzymes whose cutting is blocked by site-specific DNA methylation, followed by Southern blotting and hybridisation probing for the region of interest. This approach is limited to circumstances where a significant proportion (generally >10%) of the DNA is methylated at the site and where there is sufficient DNA, about 1 to 5 μg, to allow for detection. Digestion with restriction enzymes whose cutting is blocked by site-specific DNA methylation is followed by PCR amplification using primers that flank the restriction enzyme site(s). This method can utilise smaller amounts of DNA but any lack of complete enzyme digestion for reasons other than DNA methylation can lead to false positive signals.
The present inventors have now developed methods utilizing oligonucleotide clamps for the sensitive and specific detection of methylated nucleic acids which greatly reduce the problems associated with non-specific amplification of non-target sequences and increases the levels of multiplexing which can be carried out in an individual reaction tube. This makes the technique ideal for whole genome analysis of methylation patterns and also amenable to robotic manipulation.